Oklahoma Republicans Have Cut More Than $200 Million from Education since 2008

Oklahomans need an accounting of what the Republican legislature has done with over $200M they have taken from education since 2008.  Where did they spend the money?  We have a right to know where over $200M has gone since it did not go to education for our children.

Oklahoma Policy Institute email this morning delivered the latest from Oklahoma Governor Fallin and the Oklahoma Legislature when it comes to education.  We have lived in five other states before coming to Oklahoma due to a transfer because of the BRAC Closure of Kelly AFB depot.  Not one of those states has the pathetic record on education as Oklahoma since the Republicans took total control of State Government in 2010 and before that the legislature in 2008 although Texas is striving to catch up with a Governor who has now gone hard right along with a legislature that has lost all common sense.

We chose to live in Norman, OK, which has an outstanding public school system and the absolute best Superintendent of Schools Joe Siano that I have ever seen anyplace we have lived.  We have a rainy day fund and a community that supports our schools.  We pass operating levies and bond issues because our school board never overreaches unless you are a Republican who always vote against anything the schools need with their 'smaller government' mantra.

First time I had a Republican tell me that the Bible needed taught in the Norman schools along with a Christian prayer every day, I had all I could do to keep from blasting them.  Instead I said we will just have to agree to disagree and was told to get out of the GOP if I support our schools because Republicans don't support public schools.  That said it all!

Sit here day after day and read the attacks on education by the Governor, State School Superintendent, and members of the Legislature as they don't see the need to fully fund both education and infrastructure. They are proud of themselves of their cuts to education and no raises for teachers which was the first hint that the vast majority Oklahoma Republican office holders are bought and paid for by wealthy donors and ALEC who is fronting for the Koch Bros.  Social issues have become a priority of the Oklahoma Legislature along with more tax breaks for corporations and the wealthy instead of fully funding education.  Some legislators now want to take money from infrastructure like roads and bridges when we have some of the worst in the Country to give more to education.  

Oklahoma Policy Institute which is a non-partisan has done an excellent job on tracking Education in Oklahoma which shows what the Governor, State School Superintendent,  and Legislature are doing in their attempts to destroy public education including our universities.  The GOP reaction is that OK Policy is liberal because they disagree with Republicans on the way they are handling education and other issues when they are telling it like it is without spin.

Latest Email from OKPolicy.org:

This year Governor Fallin and legislators are pushing more tax cuts in Oklahoma, even as the state faces a $188 million budget shortfall and support for public schools has been cut more than $200 million since 2008. State lawmakers have justified their actions by claiming that tax cuts will boost the economy and create jobs. A new fact sheet from Oklahoma Policy Institute makes that case that investing in education is a much better proven strategy for growth and job creation.

You can view the fact sheet on our website or download it as a pdf.

The fact sheet shows that:

• With few exceptions, the states where workers earn the highest wages are those with the most college graduates. And despite Oklahoma's recent economic successes, both our median wage and educational attainment are well below the national average.
• The wage premium for a college degree has increased significantly since the 1990s and 1980s. Those with more education earn higher pay and have fewer periods of unemployment.
• Oklahoma has made the largest cuts to K-12 funding in the nation, and state funding for higher education is down 26.2 percent after inflation since 2008. Oklahoma is consistently ranked near the bottom for education funding and teacher pay.
• Education cuts put Oklahoma’s economic future at risk. Over the longer term, the cuts make it less likely that Oklahoma can develop the highly skilled workforce needed to compete in today’s global economy.

You can find more of our research and materials about education issues at http://okpolicy.org/issues/education.

Click Here to sign up to get their daily emails with what is happening in State Government that affects all of us.  It is the best site I have found in any state we have lived to keep you up to date.  

A local democrat had a bet with me that education was going to be what drove me away from the GOP years ago.  He was right as I have always been a big proponent of public schools giving our children a good education based on facts not some junk science the hard right wants to teach in this State.  The very idea they want to bring religion into the public schools and make teachers teach the Bible which was in the GOP State Convention Platform at the last one I attended in 2010 sent me over the edge.  By the summer of 2011, I completely had it with Republicans in Oklahoma as they fully adopted the ALEC and the Tea Party agenda which many of us know is the Koch Bros Agenda. Seems money talks with Republicans today who put donors over what is good for the residents of their states.  They have lost all empathy for those less fortunate.

Just don't understand any state that would not want their children educated.  Is it because they want to be able to control what they think?  You can do that better with an uneducated populace.  Whatever the reason, I am embarrassed to ever have been a Republican in Oklahoma not to mention an active Republican.  One of the people I met said he was a conservative in Texas and a liberal in Oklahoma. Now we would both be liberals in the GOP in Texas which has gone hard right since we both lived there.  The hard right I thought was only in Oklahoma has gone all over the Country with this anti-public education and pro-charter schools owned by hedge fund and GOP donors.  Not hard to figure out what they are up to and must be stopped in November 2014 by everyone who values education for our children getting out to vote to send the neanderthals to the unemployment line.

Governor Fallin Threatens Public School Funding, Over Opposition by Local Superintendents to State's System of Grading Schools

UPDATE:  11/5/2013:  After a host of parents and educators went through the roof at the threat of Gov Fallin pulling school funding, the comments were updated:

Gov. Mary Fallin’s spokesman Alex Weintz said some have misconstrued comments he made earlier this week to the Tulsa World as a “threat” to educators to stop criticizing the A-F grading system. 

“Gov. Fallin has not and will not threaten (additional state) funding for schools based on opposition to the A-F grading system,” he said in a written statement released Tuesday.
In a Tulsa World story published Sunday, Weintz said Fallin wanted to warn educators that continued criticism of the A-F school grading system could affect whether public schools get additional state funding for fiscal year 2015. 

Educators and parents statewide interpreted that as a threat by the governor to stop criticizing the A-F grading system or forfeit additional state funding next year to help fill a $200 million-plus budget shortfall from cuts made during the recession.

Where is Gov Fallin to speak to the media and answer these questions instead of sending out a handwritten comment?  She got caught and she knows it so she is avoiding the media, educators, and parents.  IMHO she meant what was said and backtracked when she got caught.

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Governor Fallin says that the new grading system is "the law" and therefore we need to accept it regardless of whether we like it or not. However, Obamcare is also "the law" yet she does not accept it because she does not like it. Aren't we as a people just following the example of our leaders in regard to following "the law"?  Jody, Tulsa World

What can you say when you read this except that ALEC has taken over the Governor's Office of the State of Oklahoma when the Governor's Spokesman disses the report from the two major state universities -- University of Oklahoma and Oklahoma State.  Guess the Governor and the State School Superintendent know better then the two recognized university staffs who prepared the report or our local school superintendents:

Gov. Fallin counters critics of A-F system for grading schools

Strong opposition to the state's system of grading schools may hurt funding, the governor says.By KIM ARCHER World Staff Writer  

Related Documents:

Oklahoma A-F report Read a report from University of Oklahoma and Oklahoma State University researchers analyzing Oklahoma's A-F grading system. 

Gov. Mary Fallin is warning educators that continuing public criticism of the state's A-F school grading system may affect whether common education gets additional funding next fiscal year. 

"It's not helpful to anyone's cause. It seems to be some opponents are absolutely bent on undermining the credibility of the entire system," said Fallin spokesman Alex Weintz. 

"The fact of the matter is this grading system, regardless of whether or not you believe it should have been put together differently, is the law." 

Last week state Superintendent Janet Barresi unveiled her education budget request for fiscal year 2015, in which she is asking for an additional $174.9 million for a total of $2.5 billion. On the same day, the governor's office spoke out on the A-F issue, urging education supporters to get behind the grading system and stop endorsing a report that criticizes it.

The A-F grades for schools across the state are expected to be released this week.
Weintz said the governor is "dismayed" to see groups representing the education community touting a report issued by researchers at University of Oklahoma and Oklahoma State University as a way to wage a campaign against A-F.

Do you know how stupid they sound saying the A-F school grading system is the "law" no matter if you agree or not when we live in a state that has challenge ACA and is still challenging it when it was passed into law, signed by the President and upheld by SCOTUS.  The Governor and her ALEC Legislature still won't recognize the ACA law but now want to tell all of us that the A-F grading system is the law so sit down and shut up or lose funding.  Sounds pretty dictatorial in my book.  

This part of the article would be funny if not so serious:

Educators statewide have complained that the formula underlying the simple A-F grades is flawed. They point to two analyses by OU and OSU researchers that concluded the formula "has very little meaning and certainly cannot be used legitimately to inform high-stakes decisions." 

Weintz said Fallin disagrees with the latest study and believes its conclusions are harmful to public education.

Fallin will never go down as being one of the smarter Governor's of Oklahoma but like Keating her regard for public education leaves a lot to be desired.  When she thinks she knows more then our two State Universities, there is a real problem and it is not with the report from the Universities.  Two universities who turn out teachers for our public schools are harmful to public education?  What is harmful is being a state owned by ALEC and the Koch Bros with a State School Superintendent that believes in charter schools over public schools.  I know because I got in a fight with one of her disciples about that very issue.

Oklahoma ranks #1 in the Country for cutting school funding by 28% since 2008 and now if schools don't do as they are told the Governor wants to cut them more?  Give me a break!

When you think that Oklahoma's Governor Fallin cannot stoop any lower with Janet Barresi, who is one of the most detested State School Superintendents ever in this state, it happens.  These comments from the Tulsa World article say it all and these are just a few.   Oklahomans are mad starting with the local Superintendents  who are asking for a NO Confidence vote on Barrissi.  Finding her biography was not easy but when you do you find Barrisi was a dentist, speech pathologist, and Board President of Harding Charter Preparatory High School.  She had no executive experience in running a public school just a charter school which was not a well known fact in the election when the hard right Tea Party led the GOP to take all state offices.  Don't know anyone who respects her as state school superintendent except Fallin and her group as Barrisi is dictatorial and refuses to listen to ideas even in meetings.  

These comments from the Tulsa World article sum of what I have heard from educators in my own area of the state:

Fallin apparently has cornflakes for brains. She refuses to expand Medicaid, denying affordable health care to thousands, even though it will be heavily subsidized with federal dollars -- even Republican governors Jan Brewer and John Kasich saw the wisdom of not sending their own taxpayers' federal dollars to other states -- and now she is using fear and extortion -- tools Republicans reach for first -- to threaten school superintendents if they question the failed performance of her girl Barresi. It is time to retire the mistress of Koch Industries to Wichita and elect a governor who is interested in serving the people of Oklahoma. Oklahoma horses will also likely be glad to see her go. (Frank, Tulsa World)

Governor, I am in awe of your threat of possible education funding for our public schools could be halted because of the failure of school administrators not accepting these flawed standards trying to be promoted by your administration. You haven't even tried working with them nor even accepted the analysis of the education professionals from O.U. nor O.S.U. These are educational scientists who RESEARCH educational factors on a daily basis. What does your research say to counter theirs since you discount their assessment?
Also, "grading our public schools" is part of a system that conservatives have initiated throughout our nation to try and privatize our public schools for profit and not necessarily to improve our schools. Hopefully, Oklahomans will begin to recognize this scheme for what it is - dismantling our public school system, a cornerstone of our great democracy! (Ann, Tulsa World)

In other words Fallin is so dedicated to the destruction of Public education she would throw a bomb and disrespect our Best Educators....these corporate pawns will stoop to any low imaginable..No wonder Johnny cannot read .Just be sure the kids do not learn their science..they would know how bad humans have made the planet in the Name of profit SSSSS  (Jean, Tulsa World)

Alex Weintz make clear that the governor’s agenda is - gut public education funding in a fit of pique, use a flawed grading system and then announce "Public education has failed." , with all that implies. 

I hope she does not pursue this scorched earth approach that the threat of tying funding for the education of Oklahoma’s children to the acquiescence of the adults to a grading plan, flawed or otherwise, seems to imply. To quote Ronald Reagan “Freedom is the right to question and change the established way of doing things." I can hope the governor realizes she has overplayed her hand on this, comes down on the side of freedom and backs away from Mr. Weintz’s statements.  (Robert, Tulsa World)

This is typical of the Governor to send out her spokesman to say what she thinks rather than talk with the media on where she stands.  Her ties to the Koch Bros and ALEC did me in plus I find more and more I have lost total respect with her stance on education, ACA, women's rights, minority rights, etc. The audacity to say the new grading is the law but the ACA which is the law has to be overturned shows a shallowness and someone who is bought and paid for like so many of our GOP Governor's today.